Robin Skone Palmer

Robin Skone Palmer

Can a cat actually blackmail someone? you ask. Well, okay, blackmail may not be the exact right word, but I don’t really don’t know what else to call it. Here’s the story: About a month ago when I got into bed, I was surprised that the sheets were so cold. Then I realized they weren’t just cold — they were wet! I jumped out of bed and discovered a big wet spot by the foot of my bed. What on earth is going on? As I pulled back the covers, I realized it wasn’t just the blanket and sheets, the mattress pad was wet clear though. With sinking heart, I felt the mattress underneath and yes, it was damp. How could this be? Well, obviously it was a message from one of my cats, but which one? I suspected Paddy O’Cat, because the foot of the bed is where he sleeps. I was… Read More »

When I opened my front door Thanksgiving morning, I was greeted by the lovely sight of the pale full moon setting over the mountains. It occurred to me that I have seen this same moon before on my birthday. I decided to accept it as my personal “birthday moon.” The night before as I was coming home from dinner with a friend, I saw a huge golden moon rising in the east. “Look!” I told Susie, “A harvest moon!” Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was not a harvest moon. I remembered that all the full moons have names — the harvest moon is just one of them. The names were originated by the Native Americans, at least on this continent. Other cultures have their own names for the various moons. The “Harvest moon” is in September which makes a lot of sense. The moon I… Read More »

Doggone, I hate losing touch with friends, don’t you? Sometimes it just happens — somebody moves away and you promise you’ll stay in touch and at first you do. But the days slip by, become weeks, months, and then it’s Christmas and birthday cards and one day you realize you haven’t heard from her in ages. It’s a natural progression of life, I guess. Other times it’s deliberate which is sad. Case in point, Barbara and I were roommates back in the 60s. We took vacations together and had some great adventures. She moved to San Francisco, but came to visit me when I lived in London. I went to visit her when she lived in Paris. Twenty years ago we met up in Arizona when she was there to sort out her mother’s estate. Barbara and I were opposites in many ways. Most ways I guess: I am conservative,… Read More »

Remember when you were in grade school and one of the kids would get to the drinking fountain and drink while everyone else waited? Finally someone would yell, “Hey! Leave some for the fishes!” I thought of that today because a few weeks ago I stopped by Lowe’s to check out their marked-down plants. They mark down the plants at the end of the season or the ones that are drooping and past their prime. This particular day there was nothing on the shelves, but a basket behind the cash register was stuffed with droopy green plants with a few faded flowers hanging off the ends. “What are those?” I asked the nursery-man. “Oh,” he said giving a quick glance, “those are Gerbera daisies. Or at least they were.” “Are you marking them down?” “Yeah, they’ll be a dollar.” I picked out two plants that weren’t all that droopy and set… Read More »

Okay, I want to know why they call it a “Cat Nap.” People say “I’m just going to take a little cat nap,” meaning a brief snooze. Have you ever noticed how much cats actually, really-truly sleep? I’m told that cats sleep an average of 16-18 hours a day. That being an average, means that some sleep more and some sleep less. My cats weight that average heavily on the “more” side. Case in point — yesterday I went to do errands and marketing. “I’m going out for a bit,” I told Smokey and Black Jack who were curled together on my bed, sound asleep. They didn’t hear me and they didn’t care. I went in search of Paddy who was asleep on my desk, just like he’d been for the last hour. “I’m going shopping,” I said to the comatose cat. Not even an ear twitch. Lop Ear was… Read More »